SUBJECT: RUMORS OF US SUPERPLANE APPEAR UNFOUNDED FILE: UFO3097 I will abbreviate some things to save my fingers- these will be in square brackets. All typos are mine, w/apologies to Mr. Browne. >From _The New York Times_, Tuesday, January 19, 1993 *****Article Begins***** Rumors of US Superplane Appear Unfounded Russia seems to be further ahead on ultrafast engine. By Malcolm W. Browne Rumors and reported sightings of a secret American superplane have been proliferating lately almost as abundantly as yarns about [UFO's]. But despite the acknowledged yearning of many American aviation experts and buffs for an ultrafast spy plane, it appears that development of even the engine needed for such a plane is moving faster in Russia than in this country. The possible existence of a American [intel]-gathering plane capable of flying at [Mach 8] has been suggested in recent articles in the British periodical _Jane's Defense Weekly_ [JDW], the American magazine Aviation Week & Space Technology [AWST] and other respected technical publications. These reports are based partly on sightings of large and unusually shaped airplanes, peculiar looking condensation trails left by high-flying aircraft and strange rumbling sounds near Edwards [AFB], Calif., and other places around the world. _Secret Project of the 1980's_ Some experts believe the purported sightings of a hypersonic (ultra-high speed) [recon] plane are credible in light of some mysterious [DOD] budget items in the 1980's called 'Aurora' or perhaps 'Senior Citizen'. The theory is that Aurora was intended to produce a new spy plane to succeed the Lockheed SR-71 'Blackbird', which was retired in 1990. During the [1/4]-century the SR-71 served America's [intel] agencies, it routinely flew at speeds up to 2600 [mph] above 100,000 feet, and none of the countries it scouted ever succeeded in shooting it down, despite hundreds of attempts. The Air Force, which operated the SR-71, the U-2 spy plane (which gained notoriety in 1960 when one was shot down over [Russia]) and [recon] satellites on behalf of the [CIA], emphatically denies the existence of a super spy plane. Donald B. Rice, Secretary of the Air Force, said last month that reports of such an aircraft are 'fantasy'. An [AF] spokesman said : 'We have looked into all such sightings, as we have for UFO reports, and we cannot explain them. No [AF] [a/c] were operating at the times and places of the alleged sightings.' William Sweetman, author of the report published in [Dec] by [JDW], still believes in the existence of some kind of secret, high-speed spy plane. 'Many of these sightings were from highly qualified and credible observers', he said, 'and even if the [AF] is not directly involved, the plane might be operated by some other organization, such as the National Reconnaissance Office [NRO]'. That office has coordinated [intel] from satellites and [a/c] for decades, but its very existence was denied by the Government until recently. Another writer on secret [intel]-gathering [a/c] and satellites, William E. Burrows, author of _Deep Black_, also believes Aurora (or its equivalent under another name) may exist. 'If you put all the evidence together', he said, 'you have to conclude that some kind of high-speed plane is flying. But it might not be a dedicated [recon] plane. It might also operate as a bomber or in some other high-speed mission.' But a lengthy review of the evidence by the Federation of American Scientists [FAS] in [Sept] concluded that although the Government has often falsely denied the existence of [intel]-gathering projects, and therefore deserves to be doubted, it looks in this case as if Aurora may be nothing more than wishful thinking. Dr. John E. Pike, who analyzed the Aurora case for the federation's newsletter, wrote that 'an understanding of the mystery [a/c] phenomena is impossible outside the context of the UFO phenomena. 'Belief in the existence of marvelously capable and highly secret [a/c] resonates with some of the deeper anxieties of contemporary American society', he wrote. 'Aviation has long been one of the distinguishing attributes of American greatness.' But he added: 'The declining fortunes of the American aerospace industry have created growing uncertainties about the future. It would be comforting to believe that the decline of America and American aerospace was more apparent than real'. Such sentiments were echoed in a speech Dec. 9 by Daniel S. Goldin, the Administrator of [NASA], who declared, 'America's historic lead in aeronautics is in a nose dive'. _Franco-Russian Test_ Russia and its French aerospace partners, meanwhile, have announced the successful test-firing of a 'scramjet' [s/j] engine, which operates at speeds starting at [mach 5] and is capable of lifting an airplane toward orbit outside the atmosphere. The Franco-Russian test, as reported by [AWST], was carried out Nov. 17 in Kazahkhstan. [Reps] of the French aerospace company Onera, a partner in the project, said the [s/j] successfully operated for 15 seconds at [mach 5.5] in a test using a modified Russian [SAM]. The French said progress with the [s/j] meant that development of a test [a/c] using the jet could begin in 1995. A [s/j] differs from an ordinary jet engine in that it can only operate at a very high speed. Air entering a [s/j] at high supersonic speed compresses itself in the engine's reaction chamber, where hydrogen fuel is injected, mixed with air and ignited, producing a rocket-like thrust. An [a/c] using such an engine would require a conventional power plant to take off and reach supersonic speed before firing its [s/j]. Operating at [mach 8], such an [a/c] could serve as a [recon] spy plane, a penetration bomber, or even or even an ultra-high speed commercial airliner. It could also fly to the top of the earth;s atmosphere and then fire rockets lofting it in the final stage into orbital flight. _Place for Space Plane_ Two American companies, Rockwell International's Rocketdyne [RD] and United Technology's Pratt & Whitney [P&W] are trying to develop [s/j's], or some other possible powerplants, for the projected National Air and Space Plane, a NASA project. But neither project officials nor [a/c] industry experts profess to know anything about the mystery high-speed spy plane. Vincent Rausch, director of the project, said that the development of power plants for a hypersonic air and space plane was still one of the major stumbling blocks, and that development of a flying prototype was nowhere in sight. 'We don't know anything about it here,' Paul Sewell, a spokesman for [RD], said of a mystery spy plane, 'but it would sure be great if there was something like that flying'. *****Article Ends***** ********************************************************************* * -------->>> THE U.F.O. BBS - http://www.ufobbs.com/ufo <<<------- * *********************************************************************